After a series of impressive collaborations and increasingly assured solo releases, multimedia artist Zander Raymond now shares his first LP, Secrets From A Squirrel. Inherent in these pieces is a true sense of exploration, playfulness, and intimacy, all of which come together in a quietly delightful manner.As a neurodivergent person, Zander pursued a process here that was both personally challenging and artistically rewarding. Sounds that are often unpleasant to him--doing dishes in the sink, the din of the Chicago L--were intentionally used as compositional tools alongside his now-familiar elements of synthesis, chance, and melody. There’s an uncommonly beautiful tactility in the results, which can be found in the album’s first amoebic rustlings and continues to be felt in its final, bubbling notes. Certainly part of what makes Secrets From A Squirrel so successful is its flow from one piece to the next, but it also evokes a kind of circulatory system—and the title of one track, “You Could Almost Hear It Sighing,” is an apt description of the album as a whole. Zander’s visual art exists on its own but complements his music in ways that only underscore the strengths of both. Layering and light; collage and repurposing; tonality and humor—no matter the medium, his work is searching and gently generous, like the smile of someone who really understands you. To honor this side of Zander’s practice, an 8-page full color booklet featuring his collages accompanies the album. Additionally, for those interested in a little more zhuzh, a small run of artist editions is available, with each LP containing a unique risograph print by Zander and handwritten liner notes.
